Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon, Srirangapatna, Karnataka

Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon was built by Tipu Sultan to keep captive British prisoners of wars that resembles to be a fortress. This particular dungeon got its name after the British officer named Colonel Bailey, who was made a prisoner by Tipu Sultan and had died in this very dungeon in 1780 AD. The dungeon measures 30.5m x 12.2 m and is built of brick and mortar. It is extraordinary to even think that Tipu had so much of courage to build such a place to imprison the English and torture them beyond measure.

This dungeon is popularly known as the water Dungeon as it is said that prisoners here were chained at their waist and tied to the shoulder height stone slabs with waist deep in cold water. Captain Baird and Rulay, Colonel Brithwhite Sampson, Frazer and Lindsay were all imprisoned in Colonel Bailey’s Dungeon.

The dungeon is below ground level and one has to climb a few steps down in order to enter the dungeon. The Dungeon when entered gives an illusion of prisoners being held and tortured even today. The river Cauvery flows by the side of the Dungeon making the view from the top very serene.

(TEXT SOURCE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA)